


All of these stars will guide us home

by stayalivelou



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Office, Cheeky Harry, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Insecure Louis, Light Angst, M/M, Music, Oblivious Harry, Oblivious Louis, Sarcasm, Sarcastic Louis, Singing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-02-06 21:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1873092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stayalivelou/pseuds/stayalivelou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Sorry if I stared at you," he said, thanking that higher force that his voice didn't waver. "It's Monday morning, I'm not really awake yet."<br/>"That's alright dude," the guy said, and Louis' knees almost gave at the sound of his raspy voice. "No one should be awake at this time, and besides, I kind of liked the attention."<br/>Louis' eyes widened slightly in surprise, he wasn't used to people being this cheeky with him, and especially not this early.<br/>"Right," he said, smirking slightly. "Stick around here and there might be more of that."<br/>The boy smiled brightly.<br/>"I'm planning on doing that actually," he said. "Hopefully we'll see much more of each other."<br/>He finished washing his hands and turned away from the sink, giving Louis a not at all subtle once over, that made his insides flutter. He paused before walking out the door and turned to Louis.<br/>"My name's Harry Styles by the way." He said and then disappeared.<br/>God, Louis thought, even his name sounded like the name of a star.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Office AU where Harry's an intern at the PR firm Louis works at, Louis falls easily and Harry's going to be a star.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All of these stars will guide us home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [you_explode](https://archiveofourown.org/users/you_explode/gifts).



> To you_explode, I hope this is sort of what you wanted and that you won't be disappointed.  
> I had a lot of fun writing this at least! 
> 
> Thank you to my wonderful betas, couldn't have done this without you, love you!
> 
> Title from All of these stars by Ed Sheeran from the Fault in our Stars movie.
> 
> Enjoy!

Louis didn't like Mondays. He was convinced that they were cursed, there was something about them that just darkened everything. It wasn't that he had he go to work again after the weekend, because Louis actually liked his job. He liked coming to the office and he liked the people he worked with, both his colleagues and clients. It was just something about Mondays that made him cranky and had him plotting murders left and right. 

Thankfully his best friend and colleague, Zayn, felt the exact same way, and every Monday morning they met up in Zayn's office, Zayn bringing tea, because they were nothing but a big cliché, and Louis bringing his admirable sarcasm. 

He was walking down the corridor on his way there, trying not to glare at everyone he met, when he spotted Liam and a bunch of people he didn't recognise, walking towards him. Liam was one of Louis' best friends, but he was always way too obnoxiously cheerful in the mornings, and especially on Mondays. Louis didn't feel like talking to him right now, he didn't want to say something snarky and upset Liam, so he escaped into the toilets to his left.

He glared at the bright lights and then stepped up to the sink, looking at himself in the mirror. He really needed to cut his hair, it was starting to grow really long, he thought when a guy with the most wonderful curly hair walked in and took his breath away.

He wore the tightest black jeans Louis had ever seen, and a flannel shirt that was more unbuttoned than it was buttoned, showing of a bunch of tattoos. It wasn't like Louis himself wore a suit or tie, or even a fancy shirt, but this guy was so casually, or sloppily, dressed that that alone would have drawn Louis' eyes to him, even if he hadn't been so beautiful. He was also gorgeous and smoking hot, but mostly he was beautiful. Even though he wore a headband and his boots were falling apart. He was without a doubt the most "star looking" music star Louis had ever seen, he always called Zayn's clients music stars until he knew what kind of music they did, he never wanted to make the mistake of calling someone like Ed Sheeran a pop star again. This guy kind of looked like a pop star though, with a mix of indie, Ed and rock with it. Honestly he looked a bit trashy, but it worked for him, and Louis knew without a doubt that he was going to be a star. Zayn would be a fool to turn this guy down. He knew Zayn wasn't already working with him, because he would have told him. Zayn would never dare to keep a guy that looked like this from Louis.

The guy glanced at Louis in the mirror then, and Louis snapped in to focus again, realising he might look a bit creepy just standing there, staring into the mirror. He cleared his throat and smiled at the guy, cursing a higher force when the boy smiled back and revealed dimples.  
"Sorry if I stared at you," he said, thanking that higher force that his voice didn't waver. "It's Monday morning, I'm not really awake yet."  
"That's alright dude," the guy said, and Louis' knees almost gave at the sound of his raspy voice. "No one should be awake at this time, and besides, I kind of liked the attention."  
Louis' eyes widened slightly in surprise, he wasn't used to people being this cheeky with him, and especially not this early. He was usually the one making other people's eyes widen. He liked that the boy was cheeky though, it just made his pop/indie/rock star look even better.  
"Right," he said, smirking slightly. Flirting in the morning with a beautiful boy was the best way to make this Monday better. "Stick around here and there might be more of that."  
The boy smiled brightly.  
"I'm planning on doing that actually," he said. "Hopefully we'll see much more of each other."  
He finished washing his hands and turned away from the sink, giving Louis a not at all subtle once over, that made his insides flutter. He paused before walking out the door and turned to Louis.  
"My name's Harry Styles by the way." He said and then disappeared.  
God, Louis thought, even his name sounded like the name of a star.

Zayn was half asleep in his chair when Louis reached his office. He looked up when Louis sat down and pushed a Styrofoam cup towards him.  
"You're late." He mumbled.  
Louis rolled his eyes and took a sip of his tea, sighing in pleasure at the heavenly beverage. Flirting with cute boys in all honour, but this, this, was the best way to wake up.  
"I met your new client earlier when I was hiding from Liam." He said, smiling as Zayn glared at him while barely opening his eyes.  
"I don't have a new client."  
"Well, maybe not yet, but you will after today. I might kill you if you don't take him on. I'm telling you Z, he was born to be a star."  
Zayn raised his eyebrows, looking rather unimpressed, which, unfair. Louis did not fall that easily. There was something very special about Harry, and he looked forward to the banter they were sure to have between them if he started working with Zayn. Maybe they could even hook up and have some fun.

Zayn must have been able to see what he was thinking because he rolled his eyes at Louis.  
"What's his name?" He asked.  
"Harry Styles." Zayn frowned slightly and shook his head.  
"Never heard of him."  
Louis shrugged in response, and then groaned silently when he heard Liam's voice nearing them. What was surprising though, was that even Zayn looked pained.  
"Oh fuck," he sighed. "He's bringing the interns by." Louis groaned louder at that, he'd forgotten that the new interns began today. He was so not interested in meeting a bunch of youngsters who had no idea what they were doing and only got in the way.

"This is the music section," they heard Liam say as he got even closer. "And this is the head of music, Zayn Malik’s, office."  
Liam walked through the door, a group of nervous-looking kids trailing behind him.  
"This is Zayn Malik," Zayn smiled professionally and waved. "And this is the head of sports, Louis Tomlinson." Louis didn't wave, he was too busy staring at one of the interns. The very familiar-looking face smirked at him, clearly amused.  
"These two are no fun to be around on Monday mornings," Liam continued. "So I'm not going to torture either us or them any longer, you'll have other opportunities to talk to them later." He ushered the interns out the door, winking at Zayn as he left. As soon as they were gone Louis let out a strangled cry and dropped his head on Zayn's desk.  
"Fuck."  
"Let me guess," Zayn said, and Louis could hear the amusement in his voice. "The curly haired one with the tattoos peeking out of his shirt is Harry Styles?"  
"Yup." Louis couldn't help but smile a little at how well Zayn knew him.  
"Well then," Zayn chuckled. "This will be fun."

Louis spent the entire day trying to avoid Harry, Liam, and the rest of the interns. It was just his luck that when he met a cute, cheeky guy, he was an intern. Say what you want about Louis, but he was professional, and he knew hooking up with a co-worker wasn't the best idea, even if this person might be working below him, and yeah, thinking about Harry below him really wasn’t the best way to convince himself to stay away from him.

He went home relatively early that day. He often worked late, but he didn't have that much to do at the moment, everything was quite calm with all of his clients. He stood in the elevator and the doors were just about to close when someone threw their hand between then and stopped them, and a blond boy walked in, with Harry following behind him. Harry smirked when he caught sight of Louis.  
"Hello Mr. Tomlinson." He said and Louis tried to ignore the shiver that went through his body at Harry's words.  
"It's Louis."  
"Nice to meet ya man, I'm Niall." The blond boy said with an Irish accent, holding out his hand and smiling brightly. He was almost sort of vibrating and Louis had a feeling that this was someone that was always full of energy.  
“You’re head of sports right?” Niall asked and Louis nodded. “That’s so cool man! I’m a big sports fan meself, especially football. Would love to work on your team you know!”  
Louis couldn’t help but smile at Niall’s eagerness. He liked people that were passionate and loud just like himself, though he had a feeling Niall wasn’t as sarcastic as Louis was. Everything about him screamed happiness, not much about Louis screamed happiness.

He could feel Harry’s eyes on him and glanced at the curly haired boy. Harry kind of gave off this vibe of happiness as well, with a hint of sarcasm wrapped in it. It was intriguing, and Louis knew he’d have trouble staying away from him.  
“You interested in sports too?” He asked, thinking that ignoring Harry completely would draw more attention than small talking with him.  
Harry shook his head in response to Louis’ question.  
“Not really,” he said. “I’m more into music actually.”  
Louis grinned at that, he knew he’d been right about Harry being a music person. Sure, he wasn’t actually a pop/indie/rock star, but close enough. Louis hadn’t lost his eye.  
“Hopefully you’ll get the chance to work with Zayn then.” Louis said, the traitorous butterflies in his stomach doing flips at the way Harry’s eyes lit up.  
“That’d be a dream!” He beamed and Louis found himself smiling brightly back at him.  
“Just for the record, I’d love to work with you, Louis,” Niall chimed in, thankfully causing Louis to snap out of his infatuated glowing at Harry. “Just putting it out there.”  
Louis laughed and put a hand on Niall’s shoulder just as they reached the ground floor.  
“I’m sure we can make that happen.” He stated, and he truly meant it. Niall was fun and he’d quite honestly love to work with him as well. He didn’t seem like any other intern, Louis had a feeling he knew what he was doing.

He stepped out of the elevator and waved at the two boys, careful not to let his gaze get caught on Harry.  
“See you later, boys!”  
“Goodbye, Mr. Tomlinson.” Harry called after him and Louis cursed the shiver that went through him. God damn that boy.

*****

During the week Louis thanked his brilliant self many times for turning down Liam’s suggestion to share the interning program the year before. He’d done it to save himself from a prison sentence, but he’d never been happier about it. He saw enough of Harry as it was, their office wasn't that big, and he shuddered to think how difficult it’d be spending basically every minute of every day with him. Now he mostly just saw him in the lunch room, where he was always flirting with someone. Basically every girl working there had had her confidence strengthened with of all the compliments Harry threw left and right. He’d even made Zayn blush one day, which Louis had found highly amusing, no matter how infuriating it also was. No matter how much Louis tried to stay away from Harry, he couldn’t help but think it was fun to have another cheeky person around to lighten the mood and bring a little spark. It was exhausting being the only one keeping people on their toes, though Harry didn’t really keep them on their toes as much as made their knees week. Either way, he sure made things interesting.

*****

Friday morning Louis woke up to his phone ringing. He groaned when he saw Zayn's name on the caller ID and answered the call with a bad feeling.  
"Please have good news." He mumbled, voice thick with sleep.  
"Liam's sick." Zayn said carefully and suddenly Louis was wide awake.  
"No no no no no no."  
"I'm sorry Louis but there's no one else that can do it."  
"I am not equipped for dealing with the interns!" Louis explained. "I'll kill them! Or myself! Why can't you do it?"  
"Because I have meetings with Ed all day, I don't have time. Liam's sent you all the info. Sorry, Lou."

Louis screamed when they hung up, and felt like he might be sick too. It wasn't just that he had to deal with the interns, he had to spend time with Harry as well. He'd been trying to avoid him as much as possible all week, never engaging in more than casual conversation, but it was hard, he was enchanting. But at least Niall was loud and talkative and could sober up Louis’ mind when Harry got too intoxicating.

Maybe he could assign Harry to Zayn today, Louis thought. That way he's be busy all day. Besides, Harry would die to get the opportunity to just meet Ed, Louis knew, not to even mention working with him. Louis almost found himself thinking that this day wouldn’t be so bad after all, until he remembered he had eight other interns to deal with, nine including Niall. Groaning he cursed Liam, before dragging himself out of bed and into the shower. There was nothing he could do but get ready.

Liam’s email basically just told Louis to keep the interns with him all day, as they currently didn’t have any assignments to do. They’d handed in their previous one yesterday, and Liam didn’t want to burden Louis with giving them a new one. Apparently he thought that was worse than keeping them around all day. Louis would never cease to wonder how Liam’s brain worked. Either way, there was no way he’d do as Liam had told him too. If he did, someone was sure to die. He’d already decided to assign Harry to Zayn, he’d just have to assign the other interns to various people as well. He’d send some to TV/radio, some to literature, some to films and plays, and maybe he could even get away with sending some to HR, seeing as Liam wouldn’t be there anyway. Niall he’d keep to himself, since he knew he could trust him not to drive him crazy.

He spent the entire taxi ride to work calling his colleagues and telling them that they’d have interns working with them today. Most of them grumbled a bit but as soon as he told them it was Liam’s orders they agreed. Amazing how people trusted him but not Louis... It was just because he worked at human resources, Louis was sure of it. It had nothing to do with their different characters and Louis' reputation to play pranks on people.

When he arrived at the office Louis felt much lighter than he’d felt after the phone call with Zayn. He’d just have to deal with the interns for a moment while telling them where they’d been assigned and then he’d be off the hook. That he could handle without killing either him or them.

They were all gathered in one of the conference rooms when Louis got there, trying not to look as if he was terrified of them as he entered the room. Most of them looked surprised to see him there, but they quietened when he stood at the end of the table.  
“Hello everyone,” he greeted them and was rewarded with various mumbles of ‘hello’ and ‘good morning’. “As I’m sure you all know by now, my name’s Louis Tomlinson, and I’m the head of the sports department.”  
He looked around the room, smiling a little when he met Harry’s eyes. Suddenly all of the ridiculous nerves he’d had left him.  
“So you’re probably wondering why I’m here, and quite frankly so am I.” He stated and was met with some small laughs. “Liam, I’m afraid, is sick and has made the incredulous decision to leave me in charge of you all. Now, I don’t really have that much in my department for you to do, so I’m going to assign you to different people and departments, giving you a chance to see a bit of what it actually is we do here. This is also to keep us all in as little danger as possible from my nonexistent patience.”  
His comment was once again met with laughter, this time a little louder, and Louis stood a little prouder. Apparently even interns could be won over with some sarcasm.

He called out their names and the department they’d be working at and then sent them off, telling Harry to stay for a moment.  
“So Harold,” he said as it was just the two of them and Niall left in the room, ignoring Harry’s ‘my name’s just Harry actually’. “Zayn will be working with Ed Sheeran all day today. I just wanted to make sure you were prepared for that and thought you could handle it?”  
Harry nodded eagerly, his green as positively shining with excitement.  
“Yes, of course,” he spluttered. “I... thank you so much Louis. This means so much to me.”  
“Don’t mention it,” Louis shook of Harry’s gratitude but he couldn’t help the butterflies dancing inside of him. “You probably won’t get to do much, just sit around during their meetings and take notes I’d say, but you still might want to keep rather quiet about this around the other interns. I don’t want them getting jealous and start complaining.”  
Harry nodded seriously, looking as if Louis had told him it was a matter of life and death.  
“Of course,” He said sincerely. “Thanks again though, like, really.”  
“It’s no big deal.”  
“Are you kidding me?” Niall exclaimed suddenly, startling Louis who quite honestly had forgotten he was there. “Working with Ed Sheeran? That’s a huge deal! Not that I’m jealous or complaining,” he added at Louis’ narrowed eyes. “I’m thrilled to be working with you, I’m just truly excited for Harry, I know how much of a dream this is to him!”  
“Well,” Louis chuckled awkwardly, feeling rather overwhelmed. “I’m just happy I can give you an exciting assignment.” He looked at Harry who was already looking at him with something that looked like awe.  
“Either way,” Louis continued. “We’d better get to it. Niall and I’ll follow you to Zayn’s office, Harry. I want to say hello to Ed.”

Ed had just gotten there when they reached Zayn’s office.  
“Your boyfriend is evil.” Louis said to Zayn as he walked inside, winking at Ed who rolled his eyes at him.  
“Lou.” Zayn said warningly, looking significantly towards Harry and Niall, who stood just inside the door looking spellbound.  
“Please,” Louis waved off Zayn’s warning. “It’s just Harry. And Niall.” He immediately regretted his words as he saw Zayn looking intrigued. Even Ed raised his eyebrows.  
“Either way,” Louis cleared his throat. “Just wanted to say hi to Ed, and um, drop Harry off. I’ll see you all later. Come on Niall.”  
Louis staked out of the office, Niall following behind and waving goodbye to the others, knowing Zayn would confront him about Harry later.

Niall and Louis spent the day mostly just having a laugh. Louis still didn't have that much to do, seeing as it was off season in football and also because Louis was good at delegating. They had two small meetings but most of the time they just spent getting rid of paperwork in Louis' office, while also talking and laughing a lot. Niall seemed to really appreciate Louis' jokes and Louis always liked being appreciated. Most of his friends didn't really care for his jokes. 

They met up with Zayn, Ed and Harry for lunch at the Chinese restaurant across the street. Louis kind of wanted to smack Zayn for inviting Harry, but he couldn't help but think that it was fun spending time with him. At least as long as there were other people around to distract him.

He spent the hour catching up with Ed instead of flirting with Harry, who he had noticed flirted with almost everyone there, and also complained to Zayn about Liam being sick and leaving him to the carnivores. Zayn just rolled his eyes at Louis' dramatics, for some reason choosing not to take Louis' side against his boyfriend. 

He must have talked to Liam though, because later that afternoon Louis got a call from the person in question.  
"Hello traitor." He answered, grinning as Niall laughed.  
"Hey Lou," Liam whispered and Louis winced at how weak he sounded. "I'm sorry for leaving you with the interns, I know how much you hate dealing with them."  
"No, don't worry about it Li, just focus on getting better." Louis felt kind of bad, he hated giving Liam a bad conscience, he always looked, and sounded, like a kicked puppy. It was a horrible crime to hurt Liam.  
"To be honest, they're not actually that bad."  
"That might be because you've assigned them all to other people." Liam said, laughing a little before being overcome by a terrible cough.  
"Hey, I did that to protect them from me!" Louis defended himself indignantly. "Besides, I have nothing here for them to do."  
"I know Lou, I'm just messing with you." Liam said and Louis was almost speechless with the idea of Liam joking.  
"By the way," Liam continued, the new smirk in his voice putting Louis on edge. "Zayn told me you've got a certain interest in Harry?"  
"Yeah okay, bye Liam." Louis said quickly, making Liam laugh. "Feel better."  
He hung up quickly, ignoring the raised eyebrows Niall was giving him. Damn his friends. Damn Zayn and his inability to keep things from Liam, especially things about Louis.

That night Louis had to stay a little longer, because of a problem with one of his clients that appeared just ten minutes before Louis was supposed to go home. He groaned loudly when he got the call and sent Niall home, he didn't want to keep him on a Friday night. When he finally left, not as late as he'd thought it'd be, he noticed that the lights were still on in Zayn's office. Zayn was alone, and sat staring at his computer, looking pained.  
"Problem?" Louis asked, walking round the desk to give Zayn a hug. Zayn nodded, dragging a hand through his impeccable quiff.  
"Yeah," he muttered. "The Sun's running a story about Ellie tomorrow, and no one thought to tell me about it until it became obvious that they couldn't handle it themselves."  
Louis winced sympathetically, he knew that Zayn got just as pissed as he did when other people screw things up.  
"Can you fix it?" He asked, massaging Zayn's shoulders.  
"Yeah, I think I did just before you got here actually. I'm just waiting to get it confirmed, then I can finally go home to my poor, sick boyfriend."  
"Have you talked to him today?"  
Zayn shook his head, leaning back into Louis' arms.  
"Not since lunch," he said defeatedly. "I've been so busy with Ed, and then this." He gestured to the screen and Louis could feel him tensing up just thinking about it.  
"Harry's been amazing though," Zayn added, smirking at Louis who tried hard to keep his face impassive.  
"He took care of the final things after I had to go deal with this. Ed loved him. You were kind of right about him, he's going to be a star."  
Louis, though he tried, couldn't help but smile at that. One way or another, he was always right.  
"What's going in with you and him though?" Zayn asked, chuckling when Louis glared at him.  
"Nothing," he said, smacking Zayn's head when he raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "I'm serious, there's nothing going on. Sure, he's cute and maybe I like him, but I'm not going to act on it. We work together, and as I'm sure you've noticed, he flirts with everyone. I'm not special."  
Louis winced at how sad and pathetic he sounded. It wasn't that he cared that Harry flirted with almost everyone, it was just that, maybe he did care a little. He always got too attached a little too fast.

Louis shook himself out of his head and looked down at Zayn, who was already looking at him with a sad expression.  
"Don't worry about it Z," he laughed, trying to erase the worry from Zayn's eyes. He had enough to worry about without Louis' inexplicably pathetic feeling. "I'm fine."  
"It's okay to not be fine though, Lou." Zayn said carefully.  
"I know," Louis assured him, giving him a small smile. "But I truly am fine. And besides, I’ve only known him for two week, it’s not like I’m in love with him or anything."  
Zayn looked at him sceptically for a moment before he nodded.  
"Okay," he smiled at Louis. "I just don't want you getting hurt."  
He pulled Louis down for a hug and Louis held on tightly, feeling so lucky to have a friend like Zayn.

*****

He spent the weekend doing basically nothing but watching TV in his pyjamas, and trying not to think of Harry. It was hard though, when his mind wasn’t occupied it always strayed to the strange and endearing boy. He found himself both looking forward to and dreading the coming week. He wanted to be around Harry, but he also wanted to avoid him. But he knew that if he were to control his feelings, and just learn to be friends with him, he’d have to spend time with him. Small dozes was what he needed to build up a resistance.

Sunday night Liam called him, saying that he wouldn’t be able to make it Monday either, and Louis surprised everyone when he didn’t complain at all. It was partly because he could hear how weak Liam sounded and he didn’t want to give him any more pain, but he also found that he didn’t actually mind that much. The interns weren’t that bad after all, and he told both Liam and Zayn that.  
“Thanks, Lou,” Zayn said after Liam had handed over the phone to him, not being able to talk for long before he was too exhausted. “He’s really bad, I’m going to take him to the doctor’s tomorrow. I’m really worried.”  
“He’ll be fine, Z,” Louis assured him, but he couldn’t help but feel slightly worried himself. “Liam’s a fighter, he’ll get back on his feet soon enough, and before we know it he’ll be back at the office terrorizing me in the mornings.”  
Zayn laughed and Louis smiled at the sound, it felt like lifetime since he’d heard Zayn laugh, even though it had just been a few days.  
“I love you, Lou,” Zayn said and Louis felt tears welling up in his eyes. He really was lucky to have Zayn in his life.  
“Love you too, Z.”

*****

The next couple of weeks passed by quite quickly, even though the office was rather empty without Liam there, even Louis could admit that. But between his clients, handling the interns and dealing with his crush on Harry he was quite busy. He spent a lot of time with Harry, Niall, and the other interns, and even though he would never admit to anyone he kind of liked working with them. They were kind of fun, and they worked hard. He was even impressed with how well they did on their assignments. He worked most with Niall though, because the Irish boy was quite brilliant. He was always happy and excited to be working with Louis, never complaining even when Louis bitched to him about silly things. 

He and Harry grew quite close as well, and Harry spent a lot of time in Louis’ office during breaks and when Louis stayed late, just talking about nothing. They talked about their families, their hometowns and their childhood friends. They talked about their hobbies, their dreams and their fears. They got along extremely well and it was nice to have another person around that could handle Louis’ sarcastic and dramatic comments, and even respond with sarcasm as well. Louis had never found it harder to come up with clever comebacks than he did around Harry, and he was honestly quite proud of himself for being as able as he was to just be friends with him. It did help that Harry was always flirting with everyone they met, from the girl at the bakery across the street to Ben the computer guy. It stopped Louis from thinking that he was special and though he had a lot of mixed feeling about it, he would never forget the night they went out for drinks with Niall and Zayn, and Harry showed his flirting expertise for real.

They went to a small pub just a block away from the office and Harry turned the poor boy working there into a spluttering, blushing mess. It turned out Harry was even more of a flirt after a few drinks and Louis really felt with their waiter, he had to work hard himself to not let Harry get to him. It was hard though, with Harry’s quick tongue and the way his eyes sparkled every time he looked at Louis. He was also a very touchy drunk and Louis felt the touch of his hands on his skin for a long time after. 

They had a great night for the most part though, with lots of laughing and banter. People at the office had started to call them the dream team, because of the way they were almost always up to something, playing small pranks on their friends and making everyone roll their eyes while struggling not to laugh at their crazy antics. They just got along perfectly, their minds thinking alike. Though Zayn would always be his very best friend, Louis was really happy to have a friend that was so much like himself like Harry, someone with the same levels of cheek and sarcasm. They had so much fun together, and he struggled with convincing himself that Harry wasn’t in to him as well all night, right up until Harry left with the waiter and his heart shattered a bit.

So yeah, his feelings were still there. The butterflies in his stomach refused to settle and he was often overcome by this overwhelming fondness, but at least he never let his feelings shine through around Harry. He couldn’t hide it around Zayn though, but that was okay. Zayn knew everything about him, and would always support him. 

“Why don’t you just talk to him?” He asked a few days after their night out when they’d both stayed over late. Louis just looked at him and shook his head.  
“He doesn’t feel that way, I know he doesn’t.”  
Zayn looked at him for a moment before he sighed.  
“Fine. I can see that you’ve made up your mind already.” He said and Louis nodded. He wouldn’t talk to Harry about his feelings. They worked together, and he wouldn’t ruin that. He was happy with their friendship and he knew that that was all Harry felt for him. There was no point in telling him how he felt.

*****

The next morning when Louis got to his office he was met by a happy surprise. On his desk stood a large box with two dozen (!) cupcakes. On it laid a note that said ‘Even though you’re trying hard not to complain because you don’t want me to feel bad I know you’re not exactly ecstatic about me leaving you with the interns for so long. Therefore, here’s something to say sorry and to sweeten you up so maybe you won’t kill them. Maybe you could even share them with someone sweet? Love, Li.’. He smiled fondly, shaking his head at Liam’s puppyness. No one else would buy someone two dozen cupcakes to say sorry for being sick. He sent him a text saying, ‘you’re an idiot. thanks though babe’ and then opened the box, mouth watering at the sight. The cupcakes looked absolutely divine and he realised sadly that he’d have to go to the gym that weekend. It would be so bloody worth it though.

Later that afternoon he was bored out of his mind, alone in his office. He had nothing to do and all of the interns were busy with whatever assignment he’d given them, to be honest he didn’t really pay attention when he handed them out. Either way he was slowly going crazy, the cupcakes, no matter how delicious, weren’t that good company. He looked out of his office as spotted Harry standing down the hall talking to Nick, the head of TV and radio. He could tell by looking at them that Nick was clearly flirting, and it wasn’t hard to imagine that Harry was too. He tried to ignore the irritation that spread through him at the sight of them though, Harry was just his friend, and he was allowed to talk and flirt with anyone he wanted. It was just, did it have to be Nick? His clients were the people that always made life difficult for Louis' clients, and besides, he was a jerk.

Before Louis knew what he was doing he'd stood up and walked out into the corridor.  
"Styles!" He called, his stomach fluttering with delight at the way Harry immediately spun around and ignored Nick.  
"I have a crisis in my office that I need your help with." Louis said and stepped back into his office, feeling unreasonably smug. Harry was close behind him, closing the door as he entered.  
"What's the crisis?" He asked, looking around Louis' office.  
"Liam sent me cupcakes as a sorry for leaving me in charge over you lot, and now I have more cupcakes than even I can eat." Louis explained and gestured to the huge box on his desk. Harry looked from Louis to the box and back to Louis again before he burst into laughter. He sat down and reached for a cupcake, smiling happily.  
"This is the best crisis ever." He said giddily and Louis laughed with him.

A few minutes later they were on their second cupcakes, or Louis’ fifth or sixth, sitting there talking and laughing when Niall burst through the door.  
"Nick said there was a crisis," he said breathlessly before he caught sight of the box with cupcakes and his eyes started sparkling.  
"Cupcakes?" He asked and Louis and Harry nodded.  
"Cupcakes."  
“I can help with that.” Niall said seriously and sat down next to Harry, reaching for a cupcake.

*****

One afternoon Louis and Harry were sat in his office working hard on a press release they needed to get out by the end of the day. One of his clients had messed up real bad and Louis was so close to ripping his hair out. Niall was busy trying to help Louis’ other subordinates, or colleagues as Zayn tried to get him to call them, with another crisis. Why was it that things always crashed together at the same time? He’d finally learned to at least work with Harry without constantly being distracted by his beauty though, and when it came to important things like this he trusted him more than the other interns, even though they weren’t as inadequate as he liked to make them out to be. They were honestly quite brilliant some of them, but Niall and Harry were his stars.

Harry sighed deeply and Louis looked up from his computer to look at him. Harry was sat on the floor, having moved out of the chair an hour ago, and he looked so exhausted and drained that Louis’ heart broke just looking at him. His own head was pounding and he could tell that both of them were close to exploding.  
“Let’s take a walk.” Louis broke the tense silence and stood up, startling Harry.  
“What?” He looked up confused, his tiredness clearly visible in his eyes.  
“It’s beautiful outside and we both need to take a break from this. You look like your head’s going to explode if you stay in here for another second and we won’t get anywhere with this if we don’t just breathe for a while.” Louis said, taking Harry’s hand and dragging him up from the floor. Harry chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.  
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He followed Louis out the door and towards the elevator. “But can we just leave like that?”  
“Yeah,” Louis said, pressing the button to the ground floor. “You won’t get in trouble because you’re with me, and I won’t get in trouble because they’re used to me doing things like this.”  
Harry laughed, eyes shining with excitement. His hair stood up in every direction and he looked so adorable that Louis almost lost his breath looking at him. 

When they got outside they both stopped for a moment, inhaling the fresh air and just feeling relaxed. They walked towards a park nearby, neither of them saying anything at first. As they crossed the street Louis spotted an ice cream cart and he smiled happily, walking a little faster.  
“Ice cream?” Harry giggled, actually giggled, behind him and Louis nodded, turning to grin at him.  
“Ice cream indeed, my dear Harold.”  
They each got a large cone with standard chocolate and strawberry scoops, Louis simply scoffing when Harry tried to pay. They walked through the park, Louis smiling every time Harry laughed at something. The park was filled with people, and he couldn’t help but think that if felt sort of like they were on a date.  
“You know,” Harry said, smirking at Louis. “I don’t think I’d mind working more in the sports department if this is what you do all day.”  
“Don’t pretend like you don’t love me better than Zayn.” Louis chuckled, smearing ice cream on Harry’s nose while he was distracted looking at a butterfly.  
“Hey!” Harry tried to protest but he couldn’t quite keep a straight face. He tried to return the favour but Louis was too fast for him and darted away, dropping his ice cream in the process but barely even noticing.  
“Can’t catch me!” He laughed, but the laugh died at the way Harry’s eyes lit up evilly.  
“Is that so?” He asked, throwing his ice cream in a nearby bin and taking a sprung towards Louis, just as Louis jumped out of the way. He sprinted away from him, laughing loudly and probably getting a lot of looks. Harry chased after Louis, laughing as well, until he finally seemed to realise that he wouldn’t be able to catch him.  
“I give up!” He called, stopping to catch his breath and laid down on the grass.

“I guess I should’ve known better than to chase after the head of sports.” He said mockingly and Louis nodded as he walked closer to him, head held high.  
“That’s right.” He said, laughing at Harry’s deep breaths, but was suddenly out of breath as well when Harry took his hand and pulled him to the ground.  
“Careful!” He exclaimed, swatting Harry over the head. “I’m expensive goods!”  
Harry burst out laughing at that, sounding weirdly like a seal.  
“Oh my god! You’re hilarious!” He huffed and Louis smiled to himself. He loved making Harry laugh. He desperately needed to learn how to contain his feeling for Harry though, it wasn’t safe to smile so much around him, and he’d soon say something stupid about liking him.

They stayed on the grass for half an hour, Harry picking flowers and putting them in his hair. He even tried to put them in Louis’ hair, but Louis’ glares scared his hand away. Harry pouted every time, saying ‘but it’s pretty Lou’. As they walked back towards the office, Louis felt extremely happy, and he had to remind himself several times that Harry flirted with everyone and that he didn’t think of him like that. They were just friends.

*****

“You should go home.” Louis said, looking over the computer screen at Harry who was almost falling asleep in his chair. He looked up at Louis’ blearily and shook his head stubbornly.  
“No, I want to keep you company.” He mumbled sleepily and Louis suppressed a fond smile. It was half past nine on a Friday night, the week before Harry’s final week, and they were working late to deal with the newest crisis. What was it with athletes and their affinity to mess things up? Louis’ was close to finished, or as finished as he could be until he recieved any counteracts, and anything that was left he could handle without Harry’s help. Besides, Harry wasn’t really helping anyway when he was half asleep. Sure, it was nice to have his company, but he should go home and get some real sleep instead. Louis hated seeing how tired he was, and he told Harry exactly that.  
“I feel like I’m abandoning you.” Harry muttered but he did sit up straight and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes. Louis chuckled at him, shaking his head.  
“You’re not abandoning me. I’m your boss, and I’m telling you to go home. You’re just doing what your boss says.” He said, smirking at Harry who rolled his eyes at him.  
“Fine, I’ll go home. But don’t go complaining on Monday that I left you.”  
“I would never.” Louis said innocently, putting a hand over his heart and smiling serenely at Harry who just scoffed at him. He grabbed his bag and waved goodbye to Louis before walking out the door, leaving him alone in his office that suddenly felt a lot colder. It was kind of crazy how Harry’s presence affected him. They’d become real great friends and Louis were really sad that Harry’s internship was ending, even though his heart could probably use the break. His feelings were still there, buried deep inside, but he’d learned to control them. Sort of anyway. His heart still felt like it would burst every time Harry smiled at him, and he still smiled fondly at all of Harry’s ridiculous jokes, but for the most part? He was handling it. At least he hadn’t told Harry how he felt and ruined their friendship. That way they’d be able to work together with no problem when Harry returned next summer after his graduation, he’d gotten the offer last week, and hopefully stay in touch during the year. Because no matter how much Louis subconsciously wished for more, he cherished Harry’s friendship quite a lot.

He stayed at the office for another hour before shutting off his computer and going home, knowing there was literally nothing else he could do at the moment. It was absolutely pouring outside and he had never been more thankful than when an empty taxi showed up almost immediately. He felt like he’d drown if he had to stay out in the rain any longer. As the taxi passed by an apartment building close to his home he noticed a familiar huddled figure standing outside in the rain, and he called for the taxi driver to stop, rolling down the window.  
“Harry!” He called, watching as the figure’s head snapped up. Harry’s eyes widened in recognition and he ran towards the taxi, throwing himself inside and slamming the door shut. He looked up at Louis sheepishly through his lashes.  
“Oops.” He chuckled and Louis laughed with him.  
“Hi.” He said, shaking his head fondly as he looked at Harry. He was completely drenched, absolutely soaked through and his hair laid flat against his head. He looked so ridiculous, and it was the cutest thing Louis had ever seen.  
“What on earth were you doing out in this storm?” He asked, frowning at Harry who were shaking from the cold and had started to turn slightly blue.  
“I forgot my keys at the office.” Harry mumbled, looking as if he’d be blushing if he weren’t so cold and pale.  
“Why didn’t you call someone?”  
“..... I forgot my phone as well.” Louis shook his head in disbelief, wondering how he could have fallen for this boy.  
“You’re incredible.” He chuckled as the taxi stopped outside of his flat. He paid the driver and then ushered Harry out the door and towards the warmth inside.

“I’ll get you a towel,” Louis said when they finally got inside, pushing Harry towards the living room. “Make yourself comfortable, without making everything wet.”  
He felt oddly calm about Harry being in his apartment, and he was quite proud of himself for feeling that way. Maybe he was finally learning to just be friends with Harry. Maybe he was getting over him. Or maybe he had just given up on Harry ever returning his feelings.

When he returned to the living room with big fluffy towels in his hands Harry stood in the middle of the room, looking adorably lost. Okay, so maybe he hadn’t gotten over his feelings after all.  
“Here you go, Haz.” He tossed the towels to him, groaning inside at the way Harry’s eyes lit up to see him, though it was probably the towels that made him look so happy.  
“Thanks.” Harry said, drying his hair. For some stupid reason it was so endearing that Louis had to avert his eyes. When he glanced back Harry was removing his shirt and Louis quickly turned away again, finding it hard to breathe.  
“I’ll um, get you some clothes as well.” He mumbled, practically almost running out of the room. Damn that boy. 

He found an old pair of sweats that used to be Zayn’s and were too big for Louis, though they might still be quite small on Harry, and a big t-shirt that he usually slept in. He gave the clothes to Harry, trying very hard, but failing, to keep his eyes off his body.  
“Do you play?” Harry asked suddenly and Louis looked up at him in confusion. Harry nodded to the wall behind Louis and he turned around, eyes falling on the guitar standing there.  
“Oh,” He laughed, shaking his head. “No, most definitely not.” He dropped down on one of he couches and Harry, who was finally dressed, soon claimed the other, after hanging his wet clothes up in the bathroom.  
“It’s one of Ed’s old ones,” Louis explained, nodding towards the guitar. “He gave it to me when I was in my ‘I need to learn how to play guitar’ phase.” Louis paused and chuckled at himself. “It lasted for about two days and I only touched it once.”  
Harry laughed with him and the butterflies in Louis’ stomach threw a party.  
“That sounds like you,” Harry laughed and then sat up, gesturing towards the guitar. “May I?” Louis nodded, looking excitedly when Harry got up to get it. Don’t say that he was actually right about Harry being a musician.

Harry sat down, guitar in his lap and looked up at Louis nervously.  
“Promise you won’t laugh or anything.” He said and Louis scoffed at him.  
“As if.” Harry smiled and then focused on the guitar, biting his lip adorably. As he started to play Louis held his breath, suddenly feeling unreasonably nervous. He gasped quietly at the sound of Harry’s voice when he started to sing. It was incredibly raspy and sexy and more beautiful than Louis could have ever imagined. He was so right about this kid being a star.

“Now you’re standing there right in front of me  
I hold on, it's getting harder to breathe  
All of a sudden these lights are blinding me  
I never noticed how bright they would be

I saw in the corner there is a photograph  
No doubt in my mind it's a picture of you  
It lies there alone in its bed of broken glass  
This bed was never made for two

I'll keep my eyes wide open  
I'll keep my arms wide open

Don't let me  
Don't let me  
Don't let me go  
'Cause I'm tired of feeling alone

Don't let me  
Don't let me go  
'Cause I'm tired of feeling alone.”

Louis’ couldn’t breathe. Hearing Harry singing those words, it was the most mind blowing thing he’d ever experienced. It was so incredibly stunning, and so, so raw and personal. He stared at him, and he was quite sure that every single one of his feelings could be read in his eyes but he couldn’t care less. Harry was sitting in front of him, singing like a god, and he couldn’t focus on anything else. He never wanted to do anything else than hear Harry sing for the rest of his life. If he died to the sound of Harry’s voice, he’d die as the happiest man on earth. And yes, Louis was aware of how sappy and dramatic he was being. But he’d been right about Harry that day they first met in the toilets, this boy was born to be a star.

“Don't let me  
Don't let me  
Don't let me go  
'Cause I'm tired of feeling alone

Don't let me  
Don't let me go  
'Cause I'm tired of sleeping alone.”

Louis was completely speechless when Harry finished the song. He didn’t know what to say, there were no words that could ever explain to Harry how moved Louis was by his singing. Definitely not without revealing his feelings, and probably not even then. Harry looked up at him then, after placing the guitar beside him, and the anxiety in his eyes was clearly visible.  
“Was it okay?” He asked and Louis couldn’t help but laugh quietly in disbelief.  
“Okay?” He shook his head, smiling brightly at the wonderful boy. “Harry it was amazing! Magnificent, superb, brilliant, great! Astonishing, fantastic, breathtaking! I don’t have enough superlatives to describe how amazing that was!”  
Harry beamed at him, blushing furiously and looking down at his hands that were clasped in his lap.  
“Really?” Louis laughed giddily, feeling sort of lightheaded.  
“Yes, really!” He laughed again, fully aware that he wasn’t really hiding his feelings very well at the moment, but he couldn’t really focus or care. He had to let Harry know how brilliant he was. “You know, the first time we met, in the toilets, I thought to myself, this kid’s going to be such a star. I thought you were a musician, there to meet Zayn. I may have been wrong about the specifics, but I was right about you being a star, Harry.”  
Harry stared at him, even his eyes shining like stars. He blushed and looked down on his hands again.  
“I was right too,” He mumbled. “About my thoughts that day.”  
“About what?” Louis asked but Harry shook his head, refusing to meet his eyes. “Aw come on! Was it about me being the most sarcastic shit to ever walk the earth? ‘Cause I already know that. Or was it about my amazing leadership qualities? Or my incredible patience?”  
Harry laughed a little at him, but still refused to meet his eyes.  
“Come on, Haz,” Louis whispered, feeling like he’d explode if Harry didn’t tell him what he’d been thinking. “You know you can tell me anything.”

Harry took a deep breath and then finally met Louis’ eyes, his own shining with tears.  
“I knew I’d fall in love with you.” He whispered so quietly that Louis had to strain his ears to hear him. And then when he did hear him his jaws dropped. He was positive that there was something wrong with his hearing, because there was no way Harry had just said that. Because Harry was not in love with him. Harry was his friend, who flirted with a lot of people, not just Louis. Harry was light and happiness and he beamed like the sun. Louis was none of those things. Harry was so out of his league. There was no way he’d ever be in love with Louis.

Louis knew he ought to say something, anything, but his mind couldn’t produce words. He couldn’t stop staring at Harry, who was beginning to look more and more uncomfortable.  
“I didn’t want to say anything,” he said finally, accepting that Louis wouldn’t be able to respond to his previous statement just yet. “I didn’t want things to be awkward at work. But I’ll be gone next week anyway and I just couldn’t keep quiet anymore. I’m sorry for being so unprofessional but I just... yeah... I’m sorry. I’m going to go now.” He stood up after one last look at Louis and then walked towards the door, finally snapping Louis out of his trance.  
“Harry wait!” He called after the boy, sprinting off the couch. At his call Harry turned around, taking a startled step back as Louis sprung into his arms. He tried to say something but his words were muffled as Louis pressed his lips to Harry’s. He held on tightly to the taller boy, kissing him like a parched man who hadn’t had a drop of water in a decade. 

When they broke apart at last, both of them were desperate for air and they breathed heavily as they stared at each other. Harry still looked apprehensive and Louis knew that he couldn’t wait another minute.  
“I love you too.” He gasped, still finding it hard to breathe. “God, Harry, I love you too.”  
Harry stared at him and then pulled him into a tight hug, arms wrapping around Louis’ waist.  
“Really?”  
“Yes!” Louis laughed, feeling slightly drunk. “I’ve been in love with you since you walked into those toilets with your stupid boots and your stupid unbuttoned shirt and your ridiculous tattoos.”  
Harry laughed happily with him, leaning down to kiss Louis hungrily. The butterflies in Louis’ stomach were partying so hard that Louis felt slightly worried about their survival, not to speak of his own heart. It was beating so hard and fast with absolute joy, but Louis didn’t care. All he cared about was this wonderful boy kissing him.

“I can’t believe you didn’t notice.” He said as they separated for air again. “I have been so pitifully obvious with my pining.”  
“Hey, right back at you!” Harry protested, trying to frown but the glee in his eyes made it impossible.  
“You flirt with everyone, Harold! How was I supposed to know I was special!?”  
“It’s called being polite.” Harry said indignantly and Louis stared at him in disbelief before he started laughing.  
“You are so stupid.” He shook his fondly, pulling Harry down for another intoxicating kiss, feeling like he’d never tire of the taste of Harry’s lips.

*****  
10 months later

“I want to thank everyone for being here,” Ed said, looking out at the audience. “It feels quite surreal that this record is done at last, it’s been such an amazing process.”  
He caught Louis’ eyes and grinned. Louis smiled back and raised his glass towards him, before looking around the crowd for Harry. It’d been ages since he went to the toilets.  
“I’m going to go look for Harry.” He whispered to Zayn who just rolled his eyes at him, leaning his head on Liam’s shoulder. He started pushing his way through the crowd towards the toilets when Ed’s words caught his attention.  
“This next song I wrote with a very close friend of mine, and I actually wanted him to play it with me the first time. So, please give it up for the brilliant Harry Styles!”  
Louis turned to the stage and stared as Harry walked out and joined Ed, smiling brightly with that ridiculous fedora on his head. He scanned the audience and positively shone when his eyes met Louis’, and Louis couldn’t help but smile back at his beautiful boy.  
“This is for Louis.” Harry said and Louis found himself blushing as Ed winked at him. And then Harry started to sing.

“Tell me that you turned down the man  
Who asked for your hand  
Cause you’re waiting for me  
And I know, you’re gonna be away a while  
But I’ve got no plans at all to leave  
And would you take away my hopes and dreams  
Just stay with me

All my senses come to life  
While I’m stumbling home as drunk as I  
Have ever been and I’ll never leave again  
Cause you are the only one  
And all my friends have gone to find  
Another place to let their hearts collide  
Just promise me, you’ll always be a friend  
Cause you are the only one.”


End file.
